FOR FREEDOM AND PERFECTION. The Life of Yané SandanskyMercia MacDermott

19. THE BRIEF ‘MILLENNIUM’

And suddenly there was light. . .

A great explosion of light shattered the darkness of the Turkish Empire,
revealing, cleansing and igniting. Everywhere particles of light penetrated
men’s souls and lodged there, producing an extraordinary effect of mass
lucidity. It was as though an evil spell had been broken, and those who for
centuries had resembled beasts, lived like beasts and treated one another like
beasts, had now resumed their human shape and reason. Everywhere, Turks and
Bulgarians fell into each other’s arms, weeping for joy. Everywhere they
celebrated together, danced together, drank together, and walked together.
Islamic hodjas and Christian priests paraded through the streets, sitting side
by side in horse-drawn carriages. Age-old feuds were ended and mortal wrongs
forgiven, as the Young Turks demonstratively visited the Armenian cemeteries to
kiss the graves of the victims of Muslim massacres, [1] and the Armenians, for
their part, held memorial services for the souls of the Muslims who had died in
the struggle for liberty. [2] The censorship and spying ceased; the prisons were
emptied, all controls vanished; everyone became an orator and spoke his mind in
public to his heart’s content. Even the downtrodden Turkish women spontaneously
flung back their veils, displaying their beauty to all who cared to gaze upon
it.

Never in the history of representative government has the proclamation of so
meagre a constitution provoked so cataclysmic a response. Few of the Sultan’s
motley, ill-matched subjects can have had the slightest idea of what the
Constitution actually entailed, but their psychological state was such that they
mistook a candle for the sun, and greeted the Constitution as the miraculous
fulfilment of all their hopes and aspirations, as a panacea for all their ills.
Thus, when they talked of the wonder which had come to pass, Christians and
Muslims alike gave it the Turkish name of a thing which, within the confines of
the Ottoman Empire, had been as rare and fabulous as the mythical phoenix, or
the Living Water of the folktales.

They called it simply ‘Freedom’—Hürriyet.

1. Daily News, 12.VIII.1908. The graves in question were those of
Armenians massacred by the Turks in 1895-6.

2. Daily News, 14.VIII.1908. The service was held in the biggest Armenian
church in the Pera district of Constantinople on 13.VIII.1908. The congregation
was half-Christian and half-Turkish.

340

And truly, during those first fantastic days of the Hürriyet, it seemed
as though a phoenix had indeed risen from the ashes, as though Living Water had
indeed been sprinkled on the diseased, decaying body of the Turkish Empire. Only
in myths and fairy tales has an entire realm been so swiftly and totally
transformed, and Bulgarian families christened their new-born daughters Nadezhda
(Hope), as Macedonia—that ‘sullen, bloodstained land’, [3] the Balkan Apple of
Discord, the Powder-keg of Europe— suddenly assumed her other image: the land of
joy and brotherhood which hitherto had existed only in the dreams of those who
fought for her freedom. And for Yané, who had long been waiting for just such a
turn of events, there began what must have been the most satisfying and creative
period of his hard and turbulent life.

The news of the Hürriyet reached him while he was preparing to go to
Kovachevitsa, and it was arranged that he would meet the representatives of the
Young Turks in the village of Gaitaninovo, in the house of the Mavrodiev family.
Gaitaninovo was a purely Bulgarian village, with an excellent school, where, to
the rage and despair of the Greek Metropolitan Bishop of Nevrokop, Bulgarian was
the sole medium of instruction. Since the soil was poor and unsuitable for
agriculture, most of the inhabitants earned their living by working iron and
making the gaitan (woollen braid for the decoration of national costumes)
from which the village took its name. The Mavrodievs were an energetic,
public-spirited family, who had contributed much to the economic and cultural
life of the village. It was Hadzhi Kostadin Mavrodiev who had been the prime
mover behind the building of a fine church (completed in 1839) and of the school
(opened in 1858), the compilation of a set of rules for the conduct of village
affairs, the construction of a local aqueduct, and other beneficial innovations.
His eldest son, Dimitŭr, while completing his education in Sofia, had seen
Levsky’s body hanging on the gallows and had, there and then, taken a solemn vow
to fight for freedom as Levsky had done. He became a teacher, but in 1884 he was
denounced to the Turks as a rebel by chauvinistic Greeks, and he was sent to
Diarbekir, whence he returned in 1888. Forbidden by the Turkish authorities to
teach, he settled in Nevrokop, where he opened various establishments, including
an inn, a tavern, a grocer’s and a bookshop. He joined the Organization soon
after its inception, and once Gotsé Delchev himself slept in his inn. Many of
the clients who crowded his shops were, in fact, revolutionaries transacting
secret business. In 1897, Dimitŭr Mavrodiev was again threatened with arrest,
but, warned by friendly Turks, he was able to escape to the Principality, where
he settled in Sofia. His wife and family, however, remained in Gaitaninovo, and
were on hand to help with the preparations to receive Yané and the Young Turks.

3. The phrase is one used by the Correspondent of the Manchester Guardian,
12.VIII.1908.

341

Curiously enough, the Mavrodievs were related to Boris Sarafov, whose family
also had its roots in Gaitaninovo, although he himself was born in the
neighbouring village of Libyahovo, where his father, Petŭr Sarafov, was then
working as a teacher. Hadzhi Kostadin’s wife, Yaninka, was Petŭr Sarafov’s
sister, so that Dimitŭr Mavrodiev and his siblings were first cousins to the
murdered Boris. This in no way seems to have prejudiced them against Yané and
Panitsa, who, for their part, seem to have had no hesitation in sleeping under
the Mavrodievs’ roof, less than nine months after Boris’s death. On the
contrary, the whole family appear to have been firm supporters of the
Serchani in the struggle against Supremism in all its forms. According to
family sources, [4] it was Georgi Mavrodiev, son of Dimitŭr’s younger brother,
Kocho, who, apprised by two chetnitsi of the murder of Petŭr Milev in
Kovachevitsa, went to Lovcha to inform the Regional Committee, which he knew was
in session there. Both Yané and Panitsa, together with their cheti, are
said to have accompanied Georgi to Gaitaninovo, in order to mobilize the militia
both there and in the surrounding villages for the punitive action against
Milev’s murderers.

Yané was thus somewhere near Gaitaninovo when the Hürriyet burst upon an
astonished world. He and Panitsa returned openly to Gaitaninovo with their
men—spick and span, and in holiday mood—and they went to the Mavrodiev house to
await the Young Turk representatives, who were to come from Nevrokop. Thick
goats’-hair rugs were spread on the wide wooden veranda, so that the chetmtsi
could lie down and rest awhile. For the women of the house, however, there
could be no sleep: vast quantities of food had to be prepared, the house had to
be set in order to receive guests, and, most important of all, a green silk
banner had to be embroidered in scarlet thread with the words ‘Liberty,
Equality, Fraternity’ in the three main languages of Macedonia—Bulgarian,
Turkish and Greek. This urgent task was entrusted to Dimitŭr Mavrodiev’s
daughter, Stoyanka, [5] who sat up all night in order to have it ready in time.

When the Turks, led by a lawyer named Selim Bey, and heralded by the sound of
drums and zurli, [6] duly arrived in the vicinity of Gaitaninovo, the
Bulgarian revolutionaries, led by Yané, and accompanied by the entire village,
went out to meet them, while the church bells pealed out a thunderous welcome.
The two groups embraced each other like long-lost brothers, and, fusing into one
great company, as though the five hundred years of cruelty and hatred had never
been, they returned to the village for celebrations which lasted well into the
night, as well as for serious dis-

4. Various members of the Mavrodiev family have recorded their memoirs, and the
material was made available to me by Zlatka Georgieva Angelova, granddaughter of
Dimitŭr Mavrodiev, who lives in the Pavlovo district of Sofia. Most of the
information about the family is taken from this material.

5. Stoyanka was the first woman to become a teacher in Gaitaninovo (1901). She
was also active in her support of the cheti, for whom she would prepare
food and clean clothes.

cussions on all matters within the competence of those present. Some things,
naturally, had to be left for the Young Turk Committee in Salonika to decide.
[7] The Mavrodiev house was crammed with people of all nationalities, many of
whom had travelled from the surrounding villages, and, to feed them all, four
oxen and seven calves were slaughtered, and a whole cask of wine was broached.
The chetnitsi came to the aid of the overworked women, and, girding
themselves with aprons, served food and bread to the numerous guests, including
the Turks. ‘We ate like one great family and felt like brothers,’ Georgi
Mavrodiev’s wife, Ivanka, later told her daughter, Elena. [8]

At the end of the meal, when everything had been cleared away, a table, covered
with a beautiful red cloth, was placed on the veranda in full view of the
assembled multitude. Yané took his place at one end of the table, and Selim Bey
at the other, and everyone stood in silent rapture while the Turk read out a
document, [9] which appeared to grant equal rights to all. It was a very
emotional moment. Many were weeping for joy that they were ‘no longer slaves but
equal citizens’. [10] After the reading, Selim set his signature upon the
document on behalf of the Turkish side, and Yané signed for the Bulgarians. The
two men then embraced and kissed each other, and everyone else followed suit,
and shouted ‘Hurrah!’

Selim Bey, who had known Dimitŭr Mavrodiev from the latter’s days in Nevrokop,
turned to his daughter Stoyanka and told her to be sure to write to her father
in Sofia, so that he, too, might rejoice. To Dimitŭr’s wife, Maria, Selim said:
‘Rejoice, madam, that your house has for the first time been consecrated with
freedom.’

Yané and Selim spent the night in the Mavrodiev house, and next day the
celebrations continued. One and all went with the banner and with songs and
music to the Mechite—the village square, where there was a huge sycamore and a
fountain, and here they all danced the horo together, hand in hand, or
with arms flung across each other’s shoulders. Yané led the swaying, swinging
line of dancers, and even the Turks joined in. Then, around noon, the great
company set out for Nevrokop. Along the way, the whole population of the
villages through which they passed came out to watch and many joined the
triumphant procession.

In spite of the mood of exultation, nobody was quite sure of what sort of
reception they would receive. It was perfectly possible that they would
encounter resistance on the part of reactionary forces opposed to

the Young Turk Movement. Apart from its timing—no one had imagined that it would
happen so soon—the Hürriyet had come as no surprise to the Organization,
since its members had previously had several secret meetings with progressive
Turks, [11] but, even so, the Bulgarians were fully prepared for blood to flow
in the streets of Nevrokop. [12] It was, after all, a revolution, and the old
order was unlikely to relinquish power without a struggle.

In fact, to everyone’s surprise, events in Nevrokop repeated the pattern set in
Gaitaninovo. Nothing happened to darken the brilliant dawn of Freedom: not a
hostile shot was fired, not a drop of blood was spilt. When the Young Turks and
their Bulgarian allies reached a point not far from Nevrokop, they found that
the whole population, including the Kaimakam, the local army officers and
the police, as well as the ordinary Bulgarians and Turks, had come out to meet
them. As one eye-witness put it, ‘only the dogs had remained in Nevrokop’.
[13]
When the waiting townsfolk caught sight of the revolutionaries—Yané and Panitsa
riding with Selim Bey and the other Turks, the chetnitsi dressed in their
neat uniforms, carrying Manlicher rifles, and singing as they came—excitement
rose to fever pitch, and the air rang with cheers and shouts of ‘Justice,
equality! Long live the Fatherland! Long live equality!’

As the two processions came face to face and merged into one, Yané and the
Kaimakam embraced, sealing the great reconciliation with kisses, while the
multinational crowd roared its approval: ‘Long live Freedom!’

At this unique moment, it was Yané who was the centre of attention: Yané—the
terrible ‘Sandan-Pasha’, who for nine years had ridden roughshod over the
Sultan’s laws and made fools of the Sultan’s soldiers and police; Yané—the
people’s ‘Tsar of Pirin’, the youthful ‘Old Man’, who for nine years had been
the protector and mentor of the Bulgarian raya, the faithful guardian of
the sacred fire of freedom, which now blazed throughout the land.

And the waiting crowds were not disappointed by what they saw. There are heroes
who lack heroic proportions, and there are great men who look surprisingly
‘ordinary’, but Yané was not one of these. Above average in height and of
corresponding build, with his fine black beard and his veritable eagle’s eyes,
whose penetrating glance put everyone in his place, Yané was always an
impressive figure, even when he was not armed and in uniform. He had about him
the easy grace and the air of relaxed self-confidence which are often
characteristic of men who are

11. Dimitŭr Arnaudov. Opus cit., p. 23. See also Pirinsko Delo,
23.IV.1953, article by Dime Yankov. Reshid Pasha, Mutasarrif of the Series
Sanjak before the Hürriyet, and later Vali of Adrianople, told Yankov
that before the Hürriyet he had met Yané several times.

13. Oral memoirs of Atanas Penkov Ivanov, born in Obidim, 1891, recorded by Ana
Raikova in Gotsé Delchev (Nevrokop), 6.VII.1975.

344

big and strong and who therefore feel no need to assert themselves
unnecessarily. No one looking at him could doubt that this was indeed
Sandan-Pasha, Tsar of Pirin.

And it was he and his chetnitsi who stole the show as they entered
Nevrokop, singing the well-known Bulgarian Socialist Song of Labour,
every verse of which ends with the words ‘Long live, long live Labour! ‘.
[14]

When they reached the Konak, the seat of Turkish local government, Yané
went onto the balcony and spoke to the crowds which packed the square below.
According to eye-witnesses, he made a major speech, speaking for about an hour,
[15] in the course of which he discussed the past, present and future struggles
of the Organization, [16] and spoke with unconcealed emotion of the ending of
the five centuries of tyranny exercised by ‘the Sultan and his blood-thirsty
minions’, and of the people’s newly-found happiness under the banner of freedom,
equality and brotherhood. He concluded thus:

‘Today, all of us—Turks, Bulgarians, Greeks, Albanians, Jews and others —we have
all sworn that we will work for our dear Fatherland and will be inseparable, and
we will all sacrifice ourselves for it, and, if necessary, we will even shed our
blood. Enlightenment is the surest guarantee of the wellbeing of a country;
therefore, open schools! And enlighten yourselves! And we will demand from the
Sultan that which is necessary for the amelioration of the state of the
population, and, if he gives us no satisfaction, we will demand it with force,
and will shout with one voice: ‘Down with the Sultan! Down with the Sultan! Down
with the Sultan!’ [17]

Yané then snatched the cap from his balding head, and said: ‘I swear before you
all that I will not cease to fight until we have buried the criminal power of
the sultans. My hand shall not rest until we have forced the sultans and the
tsars to plough the soil.’ [18]

Yané’s speech, and especially his vow, made a deep impression on his listeners,
who warmly applauded his words. Then, arm in arm with the Kaimakam, Yané
went to the school, where a banquet was given in his honour, attended by the
leading citizens of Nevrokop, both Turks and Bulgarians. Here, toasts were drunk
to brotherly relations between all

14. The words were written by Dimitŭr Blagoev’s comrade-in-arms Georgi Kirkov,
and were published for the first time in the Red People’s Calendar of
1898. The music to which it is usually sung was composed in 1900 by Georgi
Goranov, a Socialist from Kyustendil, where it was first sung.

17. This part of Yané’s speech is quoted from a hand-written leaflet, bearing
the seal of the Razlog Committee for Union and Progress, and a price, i.e. the
leaflet was one of many copies made for sale. The leaflet was found among the
papers of Lazar Kolchagov of Bansko, and was published by Ivan Diviziev in
Istoricheski Pregled, 1964, Book 4 (Nov Dokument za Yané Sandansky).

18. References to Yané’s vow can be found in several eye-witness accounts
including the memoirs of Atanas Penkov Ivanov, and Dimitŭr Arnaudov, Opus cit.,
p. 21. The version here is from Filyanov, Opus cit., p. 23.

345

citizens, regardless of race and religion. Those who were not invited for lack
of space stood outside, crowding round the windows, trying to hear what was
being said.

On the following day, accompanied by the Kaimakam of Nevrokop, Yané,
Panitsa and their men set out for Drama, where they were to take the train for
Salonika. On the way, they spent one night in the village of Prosechen and went
on to Kalopot, where a mass open-air feast was held, and singing and dancing
continued through the night. Next day, the whole population of Kalopot,
including the children, accompanied Yané to Karlŭkovo, where the population,
which was half Bulgarian and half Turkish, came out to meet them with bagpipes
and daireta (a kind of tambourine). Again, everyone sat down to a mass
picnic, with hot food served from huge cauldrons. Turks and Bulgarians embraced,
and the whole day was spent in dancing and general rejoicing. [19] Afterwards,
hundreds of exultant people went with Yané, Panitsa and the Young Turks all the
way to the station at Drama.

The train bearing the revolutionary leaders to Salonika stopped for a time in
Serres, where celebrations had already been in progress for several days. There
had been processions with music; the Mutassarif, Reshid Pasha, had
addressed the crowds, exhorting everyone to be ‘brothers’; the Greek Bishop and
the Chairman of the Bulgarian community had publicly embraced and kissed in
order to assure the crowds that, in the new situation, the hatred between Greeks
and Bulgarians was already a thing of the past; the reading of the telegram
announcing the restoration of the Constitution had been followed by a twenty-one
gun salute and more processions with music; all the prisoners in the Serres
gaol—both political and criminal—had been released; the Turkish officers had
paid courtesy calls to the Bulgarian and Greek consulates, to the Greek Bishop
and to the Chairman of the Bulgarian community, and a great banquet for all
notables, including the representatives of foreign missions, had been

19. See Memoirs of Fidana Petrova, daughter of Petko Dimkov of Kalopot, kept in
the Reading Room Club in the town of Gotsé Delchev (Nevrokop) archive number D
2.A19.

The fraternization in Karlŭkovo had interesting pre-history. In 1906 Panitsa’s
cheta, hard pressed by Turkish troops, came upon some Turkish peasants
from Karlŭkovo, who were mowing in the Bozdag Mountains. The cheta
inspected the mowers’ revolvers, but gave them back, and explained that the
Organization fought only against bad Turks and landowners who exploited
everybody. The Turks offered the chetnitsi bread, but although they were
very hungry, they declined. Next day the Turkish soldiers who were in pursuit of
the cheta arrived on the meadows, took the mowers’ bread and revolvers,
and beat them into the bargain. The lesson was not lost on the Turkish peasants.
On their return to Karlŭkovo, they went to the local leaders of the
Organization, told them about their experiences with Panitsa and the soldiers,
and asked if they could join the Organization. See Yurdan Anastasov, Spomen
za Yané Sandansky, p. 202.

With characteristic contempt for luxury and privilege, Yané chose to travel in a
second-class compartment, together with Panitsa and the Kaimakam of
Nevrokop, while the chetnitsi, some twenty-five in all, were in another
second-class carriage. Yané and Panitsa were already in civilian dress, but wore
red and white rosettes, red sashes, and inscribed arm-hands. The chetnitsi,
however, were still in their summer uniforms and still carried their guns.
They, too, had sashes and arm-bands, and waved banners, one of which carried the
words ‘Freedom or Death’, and the other—’Libery, Equality, Fraternity’ in Greek,
Turkish and Bulgarian.

The party was met at Series Station by the officers of the local garrison, the
Mutasarrif[21] with his whole staff, and many other Turks. As the train
arrived, Yané leaned out of the window and shouted: ‘Dear brothers! The
unification of the peoples is death to the tsars! Down with tyranny! Long live
Freedom!’ The crowds responded with shouts of ‘Long live the people! Long alive
Freedom!’ Panitsa, too, addressed the crowds, and then both of them briefly left
the train to embrace the Mutasarrif and the more prominent members of the
reception committee. The Bulgarian revolutionaries were offered cigarettes and
glasses of sherbet before they continued their journey, and, as the train drew
out of the station, the chetnitsi began to sing Sharing, Hristo
Botev’s empassioned song of indestructible, militant brotherhood. [22]

They arrived in Salonika later the same day (July 15, old style) to yet another
rapturous welcome. This time the reception committee was headed by the Young
Turk leader, Enver Bey himself. A band was playing, and there were many
delegations from many national communities, including Bulgarians, Greeks, Turks
and Albanians. The Serchani were installed in the Hotel Angelterre,
where, prior to the Revolution, the bedrooms had been adorned with notices, in
Turkish, Greek and French, which stated: ‘Political discussions and playing
musical instruments are forbidden, also all noisy conversations.’ [23]

21. In a report dated 22.VII.1908 to the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry, the
Bulgarian Commercial Consul in Series describes the return of the
Mutasarrif’s wife to the town. She was welcomed by the officers with a
special speech of greeting. The daughter of Dzhevlet Pasha, she, too, was a
progressively minded woman, educated in Constantinople, a poetess and writer of
short stories, founder of the first Turkish women’s society in Salonika, and a
campaigner for more modern attitudes. Since the Hürriyet, the Consul
notes, Turkish women, dressed in ‘reformed’ clothes and almost unveiled, have
been going out for walks with their husbands, something that was hitherto
unknown. TDIA, f. 334, op. 1, a.e. 303, p. 59.

Soon after their arrival, Enver Bey and Yané went out onto a balcony to address
a crowd several thousand strong, which had gathered in front of the hotel. In
the course of his speech, Yané denounced tyrants all over the world, and, in
particular, the Sultan and his camarilla, whom he castigated for bringing misery
and ruin to all who dwelt within the Turkish Empire. Among the worst
consequences of the Sultan’s misrule, Yané named the national animosities—’the
revolting mutual self-destruction’—deliberately encouraged by the regime on the
principle of ‘Divide and Rule’, and interference on the part of the Great
Powers, who were exploiting Turkey’s difficulties in order to extort concessions
for themselves, thus further depressing local trade and industry, and forcing
people to emigrate in search of freedom and a livelihood. Speaking of the
historic significance of the Hürriyet, Yané referred to July 10
[24] as
the day on which the people demonstrated that they were capable of ordering
their own affairs, without European tutelage, and of working together for the
common good, enhancing thereby the prospects for peace in the Balkans. He
concluded his speech by saying:

‘But we are not stopping here! Here we are only beginning; we have started a
common, united struggle, and we will not furl the banner of revolution until we
see on what democratic foundations this freedom will be built. For we are
convinced that only wide freedom, only the fullest democratization of the
institutions of the country can bring prosperity to the people, and, sooner or
later, cut the ground from under national strife and propaganda. Wide freedom of
the kind which will ensure the cultural and economic advance of the country will
make even those Balkan states which broke away earlier return to their former
place.

In those early, ecstatic days of the Hürriyet, there was nothing strange
in Yané’s speaking to the jubilant multinational crowds about their common
Fatherland. The mood of the people was such that the distant ideal of Balkan
unity within a ‘Great Eastern Federative Republic’ appeared to have become a
more immediate, practical proposition. But even so, its achievement would not be
easy, and, in all his speeches, even the most euphoric, Yané stressed the need
for further action and constant vigilance. On the following day, July 16 old
style, at an open-air rally, Yané again

24. Yané dates the revolution, not from the proclamation of the Constitution on
July 11/24, but from the victory of the Young Turks in Macedonia, i.e. July
10/23.

attacked the Sultan’s Government, and declared: ‘Until we see freedom ensured,
we will not lay down our arms. Be united and ready, because anything can
happen.’ [26]

It was not long before Yané and Panitsa were joined by the other leading
Serchani. Pavel Deliradev and Dimitŭr Ikonomov arrived on July 16/29, and
they were followed by Taskata Sersky, Skrizhovsky, Buynov, Chudomir, Stoyu
Hadzhiev, Chernopeev, Petŭr Kitanov, Krum Chaprashikov, Stoyno Stoynov and Dimo
Hadzhidimov. It was not only the Serchani who were gathering in Salonika.
Right Wing leaders, such as Petko Penchev and Hristo Matov, also put in an
appearance, as did Apostol Voivoda, the ‘Sun of Enidzhe Vardar’; even the
Greek andartes were represented, and all were courteously received by the
Young Turks, who acted as hosts in what was then a predominantly Jewish city.
[27] But, as the Times correspondent noticed: ‘There is a most marked
distinction between the enthusiastic welcome accorded to the Bulgar voivodes
and the reception of the Cretan and Athenian bands. The latter have been
shipped home with much courtesy, but little regret, and the Young Turks
distinguish between those who fought for their own homesteads against the
tyranny of the old regime and the political assassins who were imported
from abroad.’ [28]

In Salonika, as in Nevrokop, it was Yané who was the unofficial guest of honour,
the man whom everybody wanted to see. The Turks were absolutely fascinated by
him—this legendary enemy and disturber of the Sultan’s peace, who was so
whole-heartedly sincere in his support for the Hürriyet. Every day
Turkish lawyers, officers, civil servants, and beys crowded the Hotel
Angleterre, and quietly waited their turn to meet Yané. [29] Even one of the
best-kept secrets of the Miss Stone Affair was revealed at a banquet in honour
of the Serchani, given by a group of Turkish officers. One of the hosts—a
colonel—explained that he had been in command of the soldiers who had convoyed
the ransom money to Bansko, where Yané had apparently refused to accept it, so
that the sealed chests had been taken to Drama, where it was discovered that the
gold had miraculously turned into lead! Amid general laughter, Yané explained
how the substitution had taken place. [30]

27. The Jews of Salonika were descendants of those expelled from Spain by
Ferdinand and Isabella, and they continued to speak a form of mediaeval Spanish.
The richer Jews had a virtual monopoly of commerce, shipping, etc., in Salonika,
while their poorer brethren acted as boatmen and porters on the quay, and
likewise tolerated no competition from other races. See Brailsford,
Macedonia—its races and their future, p. 83.

Yané was also much sought after by journalists, and the Turkish newspaper
Yeni Asir (New Century) carried material about him almost daily, all of it
complimentary. On July 18/31, for example, Yeni Asir described Yané as ‘a
highly educated man, worthy to be elected as a people’s representative’, and it
praised his common-sense, eloquence and modesty. [31] A few days later, in an
interview given to the same paper, Yané said that he had been expecting action
on the part of the Young Turks, but had not believed that it would all happen so
soon. He expressed his delight at the recent events, which he hoped would bring
happiness and prosperity to the whole Empire. In answering questions dealing
with future attitudes and developments, Yané repeatedly stressed the need for
the newly-proclaimed freedom and equal rights to be properly and permanently
implemented throughout the Empire. If this were done—Yané assured his Turkish
readers—the regime could count on the support, not only of himself, but also of
the whole Bulgarian population, and, in addition, many outstanding problems
would be solved: outside interference would cease, the other Balkan states would
seek Turkey’s friendship, and the Macedonian question, together with the warring
factions of the Organization, would be eradicated. As was to be expected in an
interview given to a Turkish paper by a leading representative of the Bulgarian
community, Yané assigned especial importance to the fact that the different
nationalities inhabiting the Turkish Empire had found it possible to make
friends with each other. Describing this as a source of ‘colossal strength’, he
expressed the hope that they would continue to co-operate and maintain their
unity in the name of their common freedom and happiness. [32]

Soon after Pavel Deliradev arrived in Salonika, he and other Leftists already in
the city suggested that they issue a manifesto addressed to the population as a
whole, and that it be signed, not in the name of the Organization, but by Yané
himself, as the ‘most popular person in all circles of the Macedonian
population’. [33] At first, Yané laughingly demurred, saying ‘you mean like
Prince Ferdinand to his dear and beloved people’, [34] but eventually he was
persuaded to issue the following Manifesto in his own name:

‘Manifesto to all the Nationalities in the Empire.

Dear Fellow-citizens of the Fatherland,

The long-awaited ray of freedom has dawned. Our tormented Fatherland is reborn.
Shameful absolutism is in its death-throes. The whole people, in the person of
all its component nations, has risen

against it. The revolutionary call of the fraternal Young Turk Revolutionary
Organization has found a joyous response in the souls of a much tormented
people. And the slave-people have become the masters. And their sacred verdict
is:

Death to absolutism!

Death to the oppressors!

Dear Fellow-citizens of the Fatherland,

Great is the present moment. In it will be decided the great question: will our
people live or not? Who will win depends entirely on you, on your will and your
readiness to die for freedom. And surely you citizens who have already tasted
the sweet fruits of freedom will not hesitate to carry out your sentence and
bury criminal absolutism?

Turkish fellow-citizens of our Fatherland,

You form the great majority of the people, but, because of that, you have
suffered most of all from the evils of our common foes. In your own Turkish
kingdom, you were slaves no less than your Christian fellow-citizens. Now you
understand who are your brothers and who your enemies. You were the first to
enter the battle for freedom and equality. We are all with you. Your cry, "The
peoples are brothers and should live like brothers"—warmed the hearts of the
Christian population and helped them to decide the difficult question: along
which road can one go to freedom? And so, long live the struggle undertaken
against tyranny that the whole people may begin to live anew!

Dear Christian fellow-citizens of our Fatherland,

And you, too, have been no less misled, and have believed that your miseries
were caused by the tyranny of the whole Turkish people. And now this
misconception has vanished. Now you have held out a brotherly hand, and only
through this union will you win the freedom which till now you have so earnestly
desired and so dearly purchased. Make fast this union. Let us bury, together
with absolutism, the self-destructive national conflicts which it created.

You who have made so many precious sacrifices before the altar of freedom, you
may heave a joyous sigh. Now you are not alone—this is why your struggle is
becoming easier and more hopeful. With the joint forces of all nationalities we
shall win our full freedom. Do not fall victim to criminal agitation which the
official powers in Bulgaria may carry out against our united struggle with the
Turkish people and its intelligentsia, which strives for freedom.

Dear fellow-citizens of our Fatherland,

The die is already cast. There is no going back, and, indeed, which of you would
want to go back once more into the stinking atmosphere

35. This section is addressed to the Bulgarian population of the Turkish Empire.

351

of injustice and perversion that prevailed under the previous regime? Let us all
give our word that we prefer death for sacred freedom to the loathsome yoke of a
slave’s life.

Alertness, self-sacrifice and constant preparedness for struggle—this is what
must inspire us at this great moment.

Foreign correspondents who arrived post-haste to chronicle the amazing events in
Salonika were completely swept off their feet by what they saw. The
Manchester Guardian reported that the expression most frequently heard in
Salonika was ‘I cannot believe my own eyes or ears’. [37] The paper’s
correspondent travelled with returning Young Turk exiles, and noted the smiling
officials and customs officers on the frontier, as well as excursion trains,
decorated with flowers and streamers, carrying joyous crowds throughout
Macedonia. [38]

‘When I reached Salonika and had taken breath, I telegraphed home that the
millennium had arrived. I said also that it was impossible to describe it;
nevertheless, I suppose one must try. For the memory will pass, since the
millennium is not made of years but of crowded hours, and our old human hungers
and angers will quickly overlay it, but even if the shadows of the ancient
prisonhouse should again begin to close— and may God avert it!—around the
Turkish Constitution and the Macedonian peasant, the recollection of the
dazzling light of liberty will remain. For—let there be no mistake about it—at
the present moment there is only one country in the world where the liberty of
all without the licence of any is an understood and accomplished fact, and that
country is, of all others, Turkey.’ [39]

The Daily News correspondent expressed similar sentiments: ‘The prisons
are empty but there is no crime. The scenes are indescribable, and the
millennium has already lasted ten days.’ [40] The order and tranquility which
followed the lifting of all constraint on the population made a tremendous
impression upon all who witnessed it: ‘It is the most formidable and yet the
most well-disposed and the most perfectly behaved

36. Yané uses the old calendar, and the date was really July 31, 1908. The text
is taken from Deliradev, Opus, cit., pp. 30-32.

crowd imaginable. The walls of Salonika contain at this moment all the elements
of hate and cruelty which had made Macedonia a hell on earth for all its
inhabitants. These people, who come linked arm-in-arm, laughing together,
drinking endless coffees together, dancing together, have schemed and plotted
against each other’s lives for years past; they have burned each other’s
villages and flocks and granaries; they have killed each other and each other’s
women and children with every refinement of cruelty; the problem of their
reconciliation has baffled all the Cabinets of Europe. A fortnight ago, no one
in Macedonia would have dreamt this thing were possible. Can these wild
elements, these incompatible racial ambitions be controlled and satisfied by the
single expedient of a freely elected Parliament?’ Yet, in spite of all his
doubts and incredulity, the correspondent concluded: ‘He would be a poor
creature, indeed, who could witness this Salonika pageant unmoved.’
[41]

No one can have been more moved by ‘this Salonika pageant’ than the Serchani.
It must all have seemed like a dream, like the denouement of a fairy-tale.
Here they were—outlaws, who had lived like wolves, with a price on their heads,
hiding by day and travelling by night to secret destinations—here they were,
strolling in the sunshine by the sparkling, blue Aegean, taking boat trips,
making republican speeches without let or hindrance, talking brotherhood with
Turkish officers, and drawing up plans for a glorious, multinational future, in
a town en fête, where the entire population had given itself over to
fraternization and rejoicing. No wonder when, soon after their arrival in
Salonika, some chetnitsi had anxiously asked Yané whether they should
continue to carry their weapons, he had replied, almost bursting with laughter:
‘Well, I ask you— consider for yourselves whether it is proper for great big
strapping chaps like us to go around armed with guns and bombs among women and
children. It’s a disgrace. Carry your revolvers, if you want, but keep them
hidden.’ [42]

Yet, although the public euphoria showed no signs of abating, Yané and his
comrades were fully aware of the fragility and impermanance of the new-born
Hürriyet. If it was to survive beyond its present idyllic infancy, and
develop into something lasting and truly significant, enormous changes would
have to be made in every corner of the Turkish Empire, in every sphere of public
and private life. As Yané had said in an interview, ‘The liberty accorded to us
should be so large that it will induce the Balkan States to re-enter the Turkish
domain.’ [43] It was by no means sure that the Young Turks had either the will or the
ability to undertake so vast a programme of reforms. Certainly, as long as the
Sultanate and Caliphate were allowed to survive, and as long as the vast
majority of the Muslim

population in Anatolia were allowed to remain in their existing state of
backwardness and ignorance, the danger of reaction was very great indeed. Thus,
the Serchani saw the current situation merely as a ‘transitional period,
the prelude to the real revolution’. [44] They followed up their Manifesto with
a draft programme of political and economic demands which they considered should
form the basis of the Organization’s future policy. The draft Programme
was published in the name of three Regional Committees—Serres, Strumitsa and
Salonika—and was circulated by the latter to all the Organization’s Districts,
together with an invitation to attend a General Congress. The Preamble of the
Programme recommends that Macedonia and the Adrianople Region should not
attempt to break away from the Turkish Empire, but should seek a peaceful
solution within it. The first point stressed the need for the abolition of all
relics of absolutism, and the introduction of government based on the
sovereignty of the people. This required the democratization of the whole
Ottoman Empire, the introduction of a constitutional parliamentary regime, with
a single-chamber assembly, representative of the people and having full powers;
all ministers to be answerable to this assembly. Other political points
included: self-government for the provinces, regions and local communities in
all domestic matters, with foreign policy, the Army, finances, customs and
excise, posts, telegraphs and railways left in the hands of the central
authorities; the election of all legislative and administrative bodies on the
basis of universal, equal suffrage, with direct elections by secret ballot, and
proportional representation; complete freedom of "conscience, speech, the Press,
assembly, combination, etc.; the inviolability of the person, the home and
correspondence; all social groups and strata to be guaranteed full opportunity
for defending their material and spiritual interests; the abolition of national,
class and sectional privileges, and the recognition that all nationalities and
religions are equal; the right of all nationalities to self-determination and
freedom to organize; the separation of the Church from the State; the
introduction of universal, compulsory and free primary education, with
instruction in the pupils’ mother tongue; provincial education budgets to be
allocated to the various nationalities in proportion to their size; the
replacement of the regular army with a people’s armed militia; general military
service for all citizens capable of bearing arms; the militia to serve on a
territorial basis only, and to be called to the colours only in the event of the
freedom and integrity of the State being threatened; a full amnesty for all
guilty of political offences, and its ratification by the first session of the
new Parliament. The economic demands included the abolition of all rights and
duties which place the peasantry in a state of serfdom; the confiscation of
lands belonging to the Sultan and pious foundations, and the compulsory

44. These words are from a report from the Bulgarian Commercial Consul in
Serres, summarizing an account of the Left Wing position as described to him by
Minkov, one of Taskata’s chetnitsi. TDIA, f. 334, op. 1, a.e. 303, pp.
55-56.

354

expropriation by the State of chifiik lands, for transfer to village
communes (i.e. local councils) and to landless peasants; legislation to protect
hired labour; the abolition of direct and indirect taxes, in favour of a single
progressive tax on income and inheritance; and no taxation of incomes below the
level necessary for subsistance.

The implementation of the points relating to self-government for the provinces
and self-determination for the various nationalities would, in fact, be
tantamount to the achievement of the Organization’s traditional aim of political
autonomy for Macedonia and the Adrianople Region, while the proposed social,
economic and other reforms would eliminate the main sources for grievance on the
part of the Bulgarian population, i.e. the absence of reasonable personal
security, the lack of land, and the unjust discriminatory system of taxation.
Moreover, if these things could be accomplished within the framework of equally
far-reaching reforms throughout the Turkish Empke, the Bulgarian community would
be less liable to suffer from Greek and Serbian interference than under any
other arrangement currently possible.

The Programme was accompanied by a Declaration of Preliminary Demands,
setting out the conditions under which the Organization was prepared to work
legally. These included: the immediate calling of an All-Empire Parliament on
the basis of universal, equal suffrage; the revision of the Constitution of 1876
in the spirit of the Programme; a full political amnesty from Parliament;
local power to be handed over to committees elected by the people; and the
arming of the population against a possible reactionary offensive. The
Declaration ends with a statement that the Organization is prepared to
support the actions of any other revolutionary organization within the Empire,
providing that these actions are directed towards the achievement of these
preliminary guarantees, without which, in the opinion of the Organization, the
introduction of a constitutional, democratic regime is unthinkable.
[45]

Here were all the traditional planks in the Serres platform: multi-nationalism,
republicanism (here implicitly, though elsewhere explicitly, stated
[46]); the
elective principle at all levels; education for all; agrarian reform, and
assistance to those most in need.

45. See Kambana, No. 298, 19.VIII.1908, and a report sent by the
Bulgarian Commercial Consul in Salonika to the Foreign Ministry in Sofia. TDIA,
f. 334, op. 1, a.e. 293, pp. 107-108. The Consul mentions one or two additional
points in the Programme which are not included in the version printed in
Kambana. These are: free legal aid for all; local government officials to
know the two main languages of their district, and senior civil servants to know
at least the three main languages of the country; and the introduction of a
social security scheme for clerks, workers, invalids, etc.

46. On his way to Salonika, Taskata Sersky had passed through Serres with his
chetnitsi, and, like Yané, had taken the opportunity to make a republican
speech. At a celebration meeting held in the courtyard of the church, after a
service of thanksgiving at which the names of the Sultan and Bulgarian Royal
Family had

355

A significant point in the Declaration was the proposal that the population be
armed against a possible reactionary offensive. Here the Serchani had in
mind both a violent reaction on the part of the Young Turks’ opponents, and also
the possibility that the Young Turk dawn was a false one. The Preamble to the
Declaration also stated that the fact that the Organization was now able to
work legally did not mean that it had ‘changed its basic character as an armed
fighting force’. On the contrary, it had not laid down its arms and was ‘ready
at a moment’s notice to take them up and continue the struggle in appropriate
illegal forms’. While sincerely co-operating with the Young Turks, the
Serchani never surrendered their independence or their ability to fight for
the fulfilment of their programme. They kept their weapons and their
organization intact, and continued to collect dues from their membership. When
the Young Turks offered Yané money for the establishment of what the Daily
News described as ‘a Bulgarian Socialist newspaper’, he declined the offer,
saying that he had sufficient funds at his disposal. [47]

The newspaper in question may have been Konstitutsionna Zarya
(Constitutional Dawn), which commenced publication on August 17/30, 1908, with
Dimo Hadzhidimov and Dimitŭr Mirazchiev as its editors. Dimo Hadzhidimov had
arrived in Salonika on July 29/August 11, and was met at the station by Yané and
the other Serchani, who took him to the Hotel Angleterre in a procession
of landaus. That same evening he wrote to his wife, Alexandra. [48] ‘I am in
Salonika, and, what is more, in the Hotel Angleterre with the top komiti.
It’s glorious. . .’ Yané, evidently much excited by their reunion, added these
words to the letter: ‘This evening Mityu (a diminutive of Dimo—M.M.) arrived in
free Salonika. Here everything is merry and smiling. Mityu’s merry and well,
too.’ [49]

Konstitutsionna Zarya
reflected the views of the Serchani, and its first editorial clearly
expresses their attitude towards the Hürriyet, namely, a realization of
the limitations of the Young Turks, and a determination to push the revolution a
stage further, while co-operating as far as possible with all progressive
forces. In this editorial, Dimo Hadzhidimov reminds readers that history has
demonstrated the inability of a military caste to pioneer social and political
changes in a spirit of freedom and democratic

loyally been mentioned, a teacher had just cautiously concluded his speech with
the words ‘Long live His Majesty the Sultan! Long live the people! Long live the
Constitution! Long live freedom, brotherhood, equality and justice, and may they
ever reign in our land!’ Taskata had then taken the floor, and had said that
there would never be freedom as long as the Sultan ruled in Constantinople, and
he ended his speech with the words ‘Down with the Sultan! Long live the
revolution!’ See: Report of the Serres Bulgarian Commercial Consul to Ivan
Geshov, Bulgarian diplomatic representative in Constantinople, TDIA, f. 334, op.
1, a.e. 303, pp. 49-50.

rule. ‘That the Young Turk Movement is not a social movement and that the
change-over which it has engineered is not a social change-over of the kind
which usually occurs when the contradictions between a given political system
and the social forces subordinated to it reach their highest degree of
tension—of that there can be no question. This movement is above all a political
movement, in which the main element, or characteristic tendency, is the
patriotic slogan of the Young Turk military and civil party to save its
Fatherland from all forms of external dependence and intervention which are
dragging the country towards ever more certain and inevitable disaster.’ In the
writer’s opinion, the peculiarly bloodless character of the revolution proves
that it is not a real social revolution, since such revolutions inevitably
engender greater opposition. As a political movement, the Young Turk Movement is
‘a conscious one, with clearly defined tasks; as a social movement, however, it
is insufficiently conscious, confused and inexplicit’. In spite of these
shortcomings, it is, nevertheless, the duty of the Organization ‘energetically
to support the Young Turk Movement, and the liberation movement in general in
Turkey, as far as and as long as this movement is engaged in uncompromising
struggle with the absolute monarchy; while preserving its full independence in
the struggle and the means for this struggle, to extort and impose on the
movement all demands and reforms which strengthen and support the future
guarantees for a proper constitutional-democratic regime in the spirit of the
Organization’s democracy and the Programme’. [50]

Yet, for all the doubts and drawbacks, the Hürriyet was a great
beginning, a beginning which cried out for men whose vision and determination
matched those of the Serchani.